Puller for diamond drill rods and the like



June 16, 1964 M. LAROUCHE 3,137,520

FULLER FOR DIAMOND DRILL RODS AND THE LIKE Filed July 15, 1963 INVENTOR fiarce/ M8006! AGENT United States Patent 3,137,520 PULLER FOR DIAMOND DRILL RODS AND THE LIKE Marcel Larouche, Box 458, Chibougamau, Quebec, Canada Filed July 15, 1963, Ser. No. 294,975 Claims. (Cl. 294-113) The present invention relates to a tool and, more particularly, to a lifter or puller for extracting from bore holes diamond drill rods or the like, used for boring rock and other similar applications. The puller in accordance with the present invention is more particularly adapted for extracting diamond drill rogs, but can be used for pulling any other types of ro s.

. The general object of the present invention resides, therefore, in the provision of a puller of the character described, which is of simple and inexpensive construction, which is very eflicient, and which does not produce notches and does not mar or indent the surface of the drill rods which are extracted by the tool of the present invention. Said tool is capable of being used in conjunction with rods of various diameters or with rods having bosses or irregularities at its surface, the tool exerting a truly axial pulling force on the rod.

Yet another object of the present invention resides in the provision of a puller of the character described, which includes movable jaws contacting the rod over a large surface, in order to prevent any slipping between the jaws and the rod being pulled out or extracted.

The foregoing and other objects of the present invention will become more apparent during the following disclosure and by referring to the annexed drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is an elevation of the puller in accordance with the invention, showing one face thereof;

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of the puller;

FIGURE 3 is an elevation showing the opposite face; and

FIGURE 4 is a back perspective view of one of the jaws of the puller.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings in which like reference characters indicate like elements throughout, the puller in accordance with the invention comprises a generally square or rectangular plate member 1 provided at two diagonally opposed corners with circular openings which serve to receive two cylindrical studs 2, which are secured to the two ends of an inclined portion 3' of a lever arm 3, which extends away from one side of plate number 1.

A second lever arm 4, the outer part of which extends from the opposite side of plate member 1 and extends away from the outer part of lever arm 3, has an inclined portion 4 which overlaps and crosses the inclined portion 3 of lever arm 3, said inclined portion 4' being disposed between inclined portion 3' and plate member 1.

Two cylindrical studs 5 are rigidly secured to the ends of the inclined portions 4' and terminate close to plate member 1, but are not connected to the latter.

Studs 5 are diagonally arranged with respect to plate 1 and form with studs 2 the four corners of a square. The puller is provided with two jaws 6 in the shape of generally rectangular blocks and having at their back face an extension 7 protruding from the middle part of the jaw and serving as a support for said jaw.

The two jaws are freely inserted between plate member 1 and the inclined part 4' of lever arm 4, whereas the back face of the jaw rests against studs 2 and 5, and the extension 7 is freely inserted between said studs.

The extensions 7 have a length sufficient to prevent disengagement of the jaws from the apparatus, even when the front active faces of said jaws are in mutual contact.

The two lever arms 3 and 4 are pivoted one to the other at the center of their inclined overlapping portions by means of a bolt or a rivet 8. Studs 2 are secured to plate 1 by means of cutter pins 9, which pass through transverse holes made in the end portions of studs 2 which protrude from the exterior face of plate member 1. Thus, plate member 1 can be easily detached from studs 2.

The outer ends of the lever arms 3 and 4 are preferably provided with elongated openings 10. The exterior portions of lever arms 3 and 4 are offset towards plate member 1 with respect to inclined portions 3' and 4, said lever arms having bent portions 14 and 15 respectively between their inclined portions and their outer end portions.

Bent portion 14 of the lever arms 3 is reinforced by a web 16.

The puller in accordance with the invention is used and operates in the following manner:

The free end portion of the drill rod M, or other rod to be pulled or extracted from a bore hole, is inserted between the two jaws 6, said jaws having been previously spaced apart to a maximum. During rod insertion, the puller is held by lever arm 3, which is secured to plate member 1. Under these conditions, the weight of lever arm 4 is sufficient to cause pivoting movement thereof with respect to pivot bolt 8 into a lowered position, in which position the two studs 5 come to rest against extensions 7 of jaws 6 and force these extensions against the studs 2 of lever arm 3 to thus maintain the jaws in spaced apart position. Moreover, in said position, studs 5 are at a maximum distance from rod M.

It is to be noted that plate member 1 can be easily detached from studs 2 by simply removing cutter pins 9 and this enables to install the puller in accordance with the invention on a drill rod M, the two ends of which are inaccessible.

After the rod has been inserted between the jaws 6 and between plate member 1 and inclined portion 4' of lever arm 4 and such as to protrude upwardly from the apparatus, upward forces are applied to the outer ends of lever arms 3 and 4, as indicated by arrows 11.

By pulling on the free end of lever arm 3, studs 2 force the upper end of one jaw 6 and the lower end of the other jaw 6 against rod M, in accordance with arrows 12.

By pulling upwardly on the outer end of lever arm 4, the latter pivots about bolt or rivet 8 and, therefore, its studs 5 force the remaining ends of the jaw members against rod M in accordance with arrows 13. Therefore, the jaws 6 are wedged over their active surface against the rod M.

The wedging force is increased with increased pulling force on the outer ends of the two lever arms. These pulling forces, in accordance with arrows 11, can be produced by means of chains or the like, hooked to the levers through openings 10, said chains being pulled by suitable mechanical pulling devices, such as winches or the like.

If the drill rod M has bosses or other irregularities on its surface in the zone grasped by jaws 6, the latter are free to take an inclined position such as to make contact with the rod over as large a surface as possible.

When the rod has been pulled out of the bore hole, it is easy to release the apparatus from the rod by releasing its lever arm 4 and removing the puller, simply by holding the same by lever arm 3. If desired, the plate 1 can be detached from studs 2 to clear the rod.

Because the outer end portions of lever arms 3 and 4 are offset and located in the plane containing rod M to be extracted, and because the two lever arms exert two equal but opposite torques on the rod, the apparatus exerts on the latter a truly axial pulling force. Thus, the rod will not become bent or curved during extraction.

While a preferred embodiment in accordance with the present invention has been illustrated and described, it is understood that various modifications may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A puller for drill rods and the like, comprising a pair of lever arms, each having an outer end portion and an inclined inner end portion, said inner end portions crossing each other and pivotally interconnected substantially in the center thereof, said outer end portions of said lever arms extending away from each other, a plate member disposed over the crossed-inclined inner end portions of said lever arms, studs secured to the ends of the inclined inner end portion of one of said lever arms and secured to said plate member, additional studs secured to the ends of the inclined inner end portion of the other one of said lever arms and extending towards said plate member, but free of connection to the latter, the assembly of studs being disposed at the four corners of a rectangular or square geometrical figure and forming two spaced pairs of superposed studs, said pairs of studs, said inclined lever arm portions, and said plate member defining a space for receiving a rod to be pulled, pivoting movement of said lever arms about their mutual pivotal connection causing said studs to approach said rod to wedge the same within the puller.

2. A puller as claimed in claim 1, further including jaw members freely located between said inclined lever arm portions and said plate member and between said pair of studs and adapted to be pressed by said studs against said rod when said studs approach said rod.

3. A puller as claimed in claim 2, wherein each jaw member includes an extension extending away from the face of said jaw engaging said rod and located between the studs of each pair of studs. 4. A puller as claimed in claim 3, wherein the outer end portions of said levers are offset with respect to said inclined inner end portions in a direction towards the plane of said plate member and located in a plane passing substantially through the axis of a rod inserted between said studs.

5. A puller as claimed in claim 1, wherein the studs of the inclined inner end portions of said first-named lever arm are secured to said plate member in a removable manner.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,142,214 Scharpenberg Jan. 3, 1939 FOREIGN PATENTS 5,509 Austria Oct. 25, 1901 

1. A PULLER FOR DRILL RODS AND THE LIKE, COMPRISING A PAIR OF LEVER ARMS, EACH HAVING AN OUTER END PORTION AND AN INCLINED INNER END PORTION, SAID INNER END PORTIONS CROSSING EACH OTHER AND PIVOTALLY INTERCONNECTED SUBSTANTIALLY IN THE CENTER THEREOF, SAID OUTER END PORTIONS OF SAID LEVER ARMS EXTENDING AWAY FROM EACH OTHER, A PLATE MEMBER DISPOSED OVER THE CROSSED-INCLINED INNER END PORTIONS OF SAID LEVER ARMS, STUDS SECURED TO THE ENDS OF THE INCLINED INNER END PORTION OF ONE OF SAID LEVER ARMS AND SECURED TO SAID PLATE MEMBER, ADDITIONAL STUDS SECURED TO THE ENDS OF THE INCLINED INNER END PORTION OF THE OTHER ONE OF SAID LEVER ARMS AND EXTENDING TOWARDS SAID PLATE MEMBER, BUT FREE OF CONNECTION TO THE LATTER, THE ASSEMBLY OF STUDS BEING DISPOSED AT THE FOUR CORNERS OF A RECTANGULAR OR SQUARE GEOMETRICAL FIGURE AND FORMING TWO SPACED PAIRS OF SUPERPOSED STUDS, SAID PAIRS OF STUDS, SAID INCLINED LEVER ARM PORTIONS, AND SAID PLATE MEMBER DEFINING A SPACE FOR RECEIVING A ROD TO BE PULLED, PIVOTING MOVEMENT OF SAID LEVER ARMS ABOUT THEIR MUTUAL PIVOTAL CONNECTION CAUSING SAID STUDS TO APPROACH SAID ROD TO WEDGE THE SAME WITHIN THE PULLER. 